Archive for the ‘wish’ Category

This is the 100th Wednesday Wish so we’ve decided to pension off the series – after all, there are only so many things one can wish for! These See Concept reading glasses are a fairly long-standing wish list entry.

Last October, we went to Gimbals Restaurant in Sowerby Bridge to celebrate a friend’s birthday. I couldn’t read the menu because I forgot to put my reading glasses in my handbag before I left home. But I needn’t have feared, the restaurant had a few of these fantastic reading glasses on stands for just that very dilemma!

Before we left the restaurant that night, I made a mental note to remember the name of the company that made them so I could get myself a pair for my bedside table. Needless to say I’d forgotten it before we got home! I’ve done countless Google searches for “glasses on a chain”, “reading glasses on stand”, “glasses with handle” but to no avail, I couldn’t track them down.

Last week Fab had a “Just for Fun” sale and eureka, there they were! They’re available in lots of colours but I think I’ll plump for a luxe gold pair!

Justin lost the majority of his footwear in last June’s flood – he kept all his walking gear in the porch just inside the front door. Now that we’re having a prolonged heatwave his walking boots (with socks) make his feet a tad warm to put it mildly. I’ve had a pair of these Keen Newport sandals for years and they’re so comfortable and durable I’ve talked him into getting himself a pair too. We’ll soon be only a a hair’s breadth away from rocking a pair of matching teddy bear jumpers!

We use jar upon jar of honey chez H is for Home. We use it a lot for making flapjacks and it’s delicious at breakfast on hot buttered toast, swirled into plain Greek yoghurt or in a cockle-warming bowl of porridge in the winter. The first thing that caught my eye about this Helt honey was it’s multi-award winning labelling & packaging – isn’t it great?

Helt honey is produced in Denmark by Englishman, Anthony Lee and there are currently 13 ‘flavours’ from which to choose:

City – apricot, herbal, malt, raisin, caramel, molasses

Heather – earthy, hop, oak, smoky and whiskey aromas finishing off with a lilac, and a clear caramel and walnut aroma

Spring – strong vanilla aroma, then a fig aroma finishing off with a perfumed rose aroma

Summer – berry and elderflower aroma, then a dominating vanilla aroma and a floral note at the very end

Late summer – citrus aroma, taken over by a caramel aroma which lingers, with a slight strawberry and cherry aroma at the end

Honey with ginger – very aromatic; dominated by ginger, woody, menthol and citrus notes supported by a molasses and vanilla note

Honey with liquorice – first you’re hit by caramel, molasses and malt; then you taste the more toasted, liquorice, herbal and vanilla aromas

Honey with cinnamon – dominating fruity aroma with a great citrus note complimented by a slight vanilla aroma

Have you been watching Rick Stein’s India that’s currently on BBC2? He’s touring India tasting & making the most fantastic looking curries.

We cook & eat a fair few curries and the programme has got me wanting a few curry-making kitchen implements.I’m going to start with this Tala Cook’s Curry Measure (in orange of course!) Each of the curries I’ve seen made on the show starts with a pungent mix of spices – cardamom, peppercorns, coriander seeds, cumin, curry leaves, turmeric and one that I’d never even heard of before – asafoetida.

The measure gives you the right proportions for making the different spice mixes for chapatis, biryani, rice, pakora, butter chicken, raita, dahl, aloo gobi, jalfrezi and murgh methi.

Also on the wish list is a karahi (or kadai) – one of those vast, circular cast iron pots with handles; a vaghar vadki or tadka (tarka) pan which is used to gently fry the spices in before they’re added to the the curry; and a tava (or tawa) – a flat, circular griddle for making all manner of flatbreads. One item at a time I think!